


Storms

by Gracefully



Category: The Pacific (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Storms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-22 10:15:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13164813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gracefully/pseuds/Gracefully
Summary: Merriel is afraid of storms. He seeks out Eugene to comfort him.





	Storms

Ever since Eugene and Merriel had met in 9th grade biology (which they spent sitting at the back lab table, quietly debating (fighting) about evolution and which animals made the most sense speaking from a place of simple practicality), they had been damn near inseparable. Even when they didn’t have any classes together, they would walk to the bus together and eat lunch together and sometimes Eugene would even wait at Merriel’s locker for the chance to see him before first period. No one could really figure out why they stuck so close together; Merriel (who preferred to go by Snafu at school) regularly got into trouble, partied hard, and got into fights with other kids at school. Eugene, on the other hand, weighed maybe 100 pounds soaking wet and liked reading more than anything. Though diametrically opposed in most categories, the two got along better than they had ever gotten along with anyone else. 

The two of them had seen the best and the worst of each other. They were entering senior year, and the previous three had been tumultuous for both boys. In 10th grade alone, Merriel had lost a dad (due to a desire to be elsewhere) and a grandpa (due to a heart attack). 11th grade was Eugene’s year of woe. What with Deacon passing and Flora Jones breaking up with him, he had had some hard times as well. Throughout all the bad, there was a lot of good. Long nights out with Merriel often left Eugene sleepy in the days to come. Overall, the boys were happier knowing each other. 

As Eugene sat on his bed, finishing up some homework, a rumble of thunder caught his attention. He sat his laptop aside and rose to look outside. Thick, dark thunderclouds had covered the September afternoon sky and had cast all of Mobile into an uneasy sort of shadow. Eugene, who had always been comfortable in and around storms, felt a small chill go down his spine when he saw the dark blue-grey of the clouds above. He closed the curtain and went back to homework. But before long, a familiar sound reached his ears. 

Because Eugene’s parents didn’t care much for Merriel, most of the time Merriel entered chez Sledge, it was via a trellis and through Eugene’s bedroom window. The first time Merriel had entered in such a manner, he had to spend the next couple of minutes calming Eugene down before his parents heard them shouting and came to see what the problem was. Now, it was practically routine. Merriel would ride the bus to the nearest stop to Eugene, then ride his skateboard until he reached the beginning of the long, winding driveway at the base of the Sledges’ house. There, he would tuck his skateboard under a fallen log and take a shortcut through the trees. He would break through the trees about 50 feet away from the house. There, he only had to dash across the manicured lawn and climb up Eugene’s trellis without being spotted. He could sit on the roof as he maneuvered the window open, and Eugene had taken to leaving it unlocked to make it easier for Merriel. 

Eugene sat up and set his laptop aside once more as he heard his window slide open. A rumble of thunder and a crash of lightning followed. Merriel cursed and threw the curtain aside, tumbling into the room. Eugene was about to laugh at Merriel’s abrupt entrance, when he noticed how visibly shaken his best friend was. His big eyes were wide and his hair seemed uncharacteristically ruffled. “You okay, Mer?” Eugene asked as Merriel stood and quickly shut the window behind him, throwing the curtains closed. 

Merriel didn’t seem to hear him at first. “Yeah Gene, I’m pretty fuckin’ swell.” he turned, and just then another rumble of thunder sounded overhead and seemed to shake the whole house around them. The crash of lightning hit at almost the exact same instant, and the room lit up as somewhere nearby the lightning surely touched ground. Merriel dove for Eugene, who was just able to toss his laptop aside before he had a shaking, sweaty Merriel wrapped around his torso. 

Eugene could feel Merriel shaking as he pressed his body close against Eugene’s, arms wrapped securely around his waist and face pressed into his stomach. He was wearing only a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, despite the chill in the air that the storm brought with it. Eugene could hear rain start to fall, thick sheets of it that created a roar of sound outside the window. Merriel pressed his face deeper into Eugene’s side. A whimper escaped Merriel’s mouth and was lost in the fabric of Eugene’s t-shirt. 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Eugene rubbed a soothing hand across Merriel’s shoulder blades, enjoying the feeling of fabric sliding across the tight skin of his back. Merriel made some sort of whimpering sound again and Eugene felt his heart stretch a thousand fold. In the three years of knowing him, he had never seen this side of Merriel, the kind that was deadly afraid of thunderstorms and was reduced to a shivering, whimpering mess when thunder sounded overhead. It was markedly different from the kid who purposefully got in fights and was always one strike away from a suspension or some other disciplinary action from the school. 

Merriel was tough to the point of being obnoxious about it. No one spat blood out better, no one picked themselves up after a fight better, no one took insult in stride better than Merriel Shelton. Eugene knew about the softer side to Mer, though. He knew the way Merriel’s big eyes had shone when Eugene confessed to wanting to be his friend, he had seen Meriell be vulnerable in ways that he reckoned not many others saw. Eugene remembered sitting on the floor at the hospital with Merriel after his grandpa had died, slinging an arm around his shoulder and just letting him feel that he wasn’t alone in that night of unimaginable grief. 

Eugene supposed this scenario was similar. Merriel wanted comfort, and so he had come running to the place he knew where best to find it. Eugene talked over the storm, threading his fingers through Merriel’s silky black curls and moving his fingers in a way that he hoped was comforting. He kept rubbing circles into Merriel’s back, eventually slipping his hand under his shirt and feeling Merriel’s warm back with his hand. He talked and comforted as the storm raged overhead and turned the room into a flashing, turbulent box. Eugene squeezed his eyes shut and pulled Merriel close to him and hoped that the two of them would make it out okay. 

And, eventually, miraculously, the storm passed. There was more time between thunder and lightning. The rain went from a deluge to simply a steady flow. And just like that, the room started to lighten up. Merriel stopped shivering. He pulled his tear-stained, sweaty face out of Eugene’s stomach and looked around the room. Eugene took his hand out of Merriel’s hair and pushed the sweaty curls from his forehead. His eyes were wide and bright and so very blue and not scared anymore. Eugene, on a whim, and sensing it was the right thing to do, pressed a gentle kiss to Merriel’s forehead. 

“You okay?” he asked quietly, still rubbing comforting circles into Merriel’s back. 

Merriel sniffed and wiped his eyes. He nodded slowly. “Yeah…Yeah, Gene, I-I think I’m okay.” he pulled himself slightly away from Eugene so that he could take off his sweat-soaked shirt. Eugene’s eyes couldn’t help but take in the swath of tan skin that was exposed in the process. 

“You wanna talk about it?” Eugene asked gently. Merriel had never learned how to talk about his tender emotions, but he was learning how to open up with Eugene. Often, he wouldn’t know how to put things into words, or sometimes he would feel deep shame accompanied by the recognition of emotions like sadness and regret and love. Eugene was ready to hear whatever he had to say, though. 

Merriel tossed the shirt off the edge of the bed. The rain pattered softly against the window outside. He didn’t say anything. He just scooted back so that he was sitting upright against the headboard, next to Eugene. After a moment of silence, he scooted a little ways away so that he could lean his head on Eugene’s shoulder. Eugene brought his arm up and Merriel settled into the space there. Eugene was surprised to see Merriel wanting so much physical affection. Generally when he was upset, he didn’t want to be touched at all. Eugene used his other hand to run his fingers through Merriel’s hair again. 

After several minutes sitting like that in the silence, Merriel spoke in a deep, quiet voice. “When I was little, my parents fought a lot. In the years before my dad left, he would jus’ leave the house for hours or even days on end. But earlier, they would just fight. It was worst durin’ the storms because then they could be loud without any fear of the neighbors calling CPS on our asses. 

I was neva harmed, but it was still...a lot.” Eugene tightened his arm around Merriel’s shoulder in an attempt to make him feel safe in the years of verbal abuse that he was subject to. A small laugh was startled out of Merriel. “I’ve neva told a soul that” 

Eugene was feeling a lot of things, but one of the things he was feeling most was a sense of deep, deep love for Merriel Shelton. He tilted Merriel’s head so that the two locked eyes. “Listen to me, Mer. I fucking love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone. And I’m sorry about the shit your parents put you through and if there’s anything I can do, please tell me. But just know that at every step of the way, you have my love and support.” 

Merriel stared at Eugene, mouth open, for a long moment. Finally, he laughed. “Shit. Well, if this makes up for me barging in any…” And with that, he cupped Eugene’s cheek in his hand and leaned in. Eugene had kissed other people before, but this still sent a wave of feeling straight into the pit of his stomach. Merriel stopped when his mouth was inches from Eugene’s, when their noses brushed and Eugene’s eyes fluttered closed. “May I?” he whispered. 

And Eugene was the one to lean in and close the gap. 

**Author's Note:**

> This was my contribution to Pacific-Specific Secret Santa 2017! 
> 
> I really enjoyed writing teen!Sledgefu though, maybe I'll continue this universe?


End file.
